ENVIRONMENT
It's no secret that Pakistan is among the countries that are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change and environmental degradation. The regular floods, heat waves, water scarcity, droughts, cyclones, landslides, naturally ignited forest fires etc are some of the examples of how these are having a toll on the country and its resources. Every other year, properties and crops worth billions are destroyed along with the loss of precious human lives due to different calamities that hit this part of the world. Though these are commonly called natural disasters, a close look at the underlying causes makes one reach a conclusion that these are to a great extent man-made as well.
Over the years, the environment-unfriendly practices of human beings have played havoc with the natural habitats and disturbed the balance of ecosystems, leading to a lot of problems that could have been avoided altogether. This is happening all over the world and Pakistan is no exception; rather the level of awareness on these issues here is quite low. Though it is not possible to totally undo the damage, there is a realisation that human beings shall pay back to the environment and do whatever good they can. It is the responsibility of each and every individual to protect the environment and make this earth liveable for themselves as well as for the next generations. For this reason, the community-based initiatives for environmental protection are being encouraged everywhere. As the communities take ownership of such initiatives and are direct beneficiaries, these are sustainable and long-lasting.
One such example is the project titled “Improving Sub-watershed Management and Awareness in and around Ayubia National Park” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was initiated in 2008 with the collaborative efforts of the non-profit sector, government departments, and the corporate sector that provided the requisite funds under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations. The project has entered its tenth year and the results have become quite visible. In this project, communities have taken the ownership and adopted habits, methods and techniques that have fast transformed their lifestyle and landscape of the whole area. The learning from the project has groomed them for this role
By definition, a national park is a natural area designated to protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, to exclude exploitation or occupation hostile to the purpose of designation of the area and to provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational opportunities etc, all of which must be environmentally compatible.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan identified this area for intervention as unsustainable land management practices here had led to deforestation, water shortage, flash floods, loss of springs and build-up of sediments in streams. All this had had serious implications on species' habitat and livelihoods of local communities. WWF submitted the proposal with The Coca-Cola Foundation that funds such initiatives all across the globe and qualified. So far, Rs200 million have gone into this project.
Muhammad Waseem, the coordinator of the project on behalf of WWF, states the park is bestowed with great floral and faunal diversity and is the natural habitat of common leopard, red fox, rhesus monkeys, flying squirrels and so on. Besides, there are 757 species of plants, 203 of birds, 19 of reptiles, 3 of amphibians, 23 of butterflies, 650 of insects and 31 of mammals. It also has a network of natural water springs and freshwater streams which are an important source of water supply for local inhabitants as well as the residents of a major part of Murree, he adds.
He explains the rules are too strict for reserve forests and one cannot even pick up a fallen branch from ground here but here violations were going on without fear. He says the park spread over 3,312 hectares was declared a national park in 1984 under the NWFP Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Bill 1975. It is surrounded by farmlands, guzara and rakhaan forests that fulfil the fodder and fuel wood needs of about 50,000 people living in 12 major settlements.
Waseem says most pressing issues of the area were shortage of clean water, high demand for fuel wood and timber, forest fires, free grazing, low production from agricultural land and weak coordination among locals and their community-based organisations. The women, he says, would go to the forests and cut down timber and trees of high medicinal value just to get fuel for their households. The mosques, he says, would also use wood in huge quantity for heating up water. Besides, he says, there was a tradition of placing planks made of wood inside the graves and the wood used for this purpose would often be of the tree used in the manufacturing of cancer drugs. This definitely was destroying this unique resource.
Under the project, Waseem says, solar geysers have been placed at different points including 93 mosques and solar-powered fuel efficient stoves provided to women so that the demand of fuel wood comes down. He says locals were also convinced after lengthy deliberations to start using concrete slabs in graves in place of the wooden planks. They were given training on how to make concrete slab and provided one-time financial assistance, he says, adding, “Now they have a ready fund for which they collect contributions from the community.”
About the selection of partners for CSR projects, Rizwan Ullah Khan, general manager, Coca-Cola, Pakistan and Afghanistan Region explains every year The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) announces ‘call for proposals’ and it is open to all NGOs in the countries where Coca-Cola operates (206 countries). This call is announced internationally on the website.
He says Coca-Cola Pakistan refers projects to TCCF as well on the basis of the confidence they have in their partnership eg TCCF has been funding WWF since 2008 due to strong project outcomes and partnership. He shares there are three CSR pillars that Coca-Cola focuses on: Women, Water and Well-being (education). On their priority for water projects, Rizwan says, the company has a goal of 100 per cent replenishment (return of 100 per cent water volume used in beverage production) which it does through water centric interventions.
Another major focus is recharging of groundwater through forestation and soil restoration. It has been estimated that through various activities, 782 million litres of rainwater have been added to groundwater. Besides, 140,000 indigenous trees have been planted, inclusive of 15,000 fruit trees, and afforestation carried out over 130 hectares of land.
Waseem says now women indulge in kitchen gardening, manage plant nurseries and focus on more productive work as they do not have to go to distances to fetch firewood and water. Several tanks are placed at regular distances to harvest rain and stream water so that people can have access to it. This has saved women time and now they can make an earning by stitching garments etc courtesy the trainings they have received.
Qazi Sajawal, a union council member in the project area, says they are pleased to see the forest cover increase fast. He says they are getting quality seeds and contributing to the cause of increasing vegetation that also helps stop landslides. Being highly dependent on rainwater, he says, it is a blessing to have tanks to store water for households. He adds now they are growing different vegetables and fruits and no more have to get these from Rawalpindi. This, he says, has become possible due to the introduction of the pipe irrigation technique that helps take water to distances and heights through specially designed pipes.
Muhammad Shakoor shares it took them ages to realise that they were destroying highly precious wood by making planks from them to be placed in graves. "Now we make concrete slabs that cost Rs2,700 to Rs2,800 per set (comprising 5 pieces) which are always in our stock. At the moment we have 42 slabs lying in the store," he adds.
Waseem, the project coordinator, is hopeful that the rehabilitation/regeneration of this area will bring tourists in large numbers. It is an excellent location for bird watching as it hosts hundreds of species and for that reason locals have been trained as tourist guides, he, shares.
No doubt this initiative and others like it are setting an example for others and inspiring communities, NGOs, and the corporate sector to follow the suit. But this does not absolve the state and the individuals of their duty to protect the environment and take mitigation measures. This planet belongs to all of us and hence the responsibility to guard it is also ours.
The writer is a staff member
